Driven Laura bins baby ga-ga and finds the jump suits

SHE worked at Babies R Us and a Canberra computer repair shop in between university studies when Laura Peel had an epiphany.

“There must be more to life,’’ she thought, recalling how in 2002 Alissa Camplin, a former gymnast had won the Olympic gold medal in aerials.

Having trained as a competitive gymnast up until 2007, the Canberra athlete also had strong ski background through her mother, Teresa Harrington, who would take the family on regular winter sports holidays.

“So I rang the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia,’’ said Peel, 32, and that instinctive desire for something more challenging and exciting changed her life immediately.

Instead of advising new parents on the virtues of various pram models, Peel was learning how to launch herself metres into the air with skis on.

Geoff Lipshut, now the Australian chef de mission, is the driving force of the Australian aerials program. He sought out gymnasts because of their spatial awareness to twist and turn high in the air.

Within months, Peel was travelling with the Australian squad, and in her first camp was rooming with Lydia Ierodiaconou (now Lassila) who, months later, went on to win the 2010 Vancouver Olympic gold medal.

“It was very inspiring from the beginning; as a young athlete I wanted to follow their footsteps and wanted to uphold that performance of Australian aerial skiing,” she said.

Peel took a big step after the PyeongChang Olympics, linking up with Mich Roth, 58, the former aerialist and ex- Swiss national coach.

“Aerial skiing is difficult, but it’s not super complicated, and people sometimes try to complicate it. He keeps simple and delivers it calmly,” she said.

The qualifying rounds take place Sunday and the main competition Monday.